Argentina – forest protection

Action: Implement a landmark law to prevent forest clearing for agriculture

Deforestation of the Chaco. Photograph: Guyra/WLT

Description:Argentina's milestone Ley de Bosques (Forest Law) was passed in 2007, was one of the first national laws to set minimum standards of use of natural resources, largely in response to the rapid expansion of soy bean crops. However, the northern provinces of Argentina have been slow to implement the law in full. Hastily authorised, as well as illegal, forest clearings still threaten valuable corridors of native forest and their incredible biodiversity including jaguars, giant armadillos and Chacoan peccaries (which resemble hairy jungle pigs). Without proper implementation of the forest law, vast swathes of forest will be lost in the coming decades.

Evidence: Teams of researchers led by Grau (2005) and Boletta (2006) agree that soy bean agriculture threatens the Chaco forest – one of the largest forest biomes in South America – and also the Yungas forests on the eastern slopes of the Andes, which are susceptible to further deforestation. Between 1969 and 2000, 85 per cent of lowland and mountain subtropical dry forests has been cleared (1.2m hectares), according to a Zac (2004). Deforestation has been accelerating since 1997, largely due to the reduced plantation costs fo GM soy, with an estimated yearly loss of at least 2,000km².

Brazil – forest protection

Action: Reject the proposed new Forest Code

In this Sept. 15, 2009 photo, cattle walk near a burning area near Novo Progresso in Brazil's northern state of Paral. Photograph: Andre Penner/AP

Description: A proposed amendment to Brazil's 1965 forestry code would reduce protection of Brazil's forests, including the Amazon and the Atlantic forest. The amendment would provide amnesty to any farmers or ranchers who have practiced illegal deforestation, incorporating over 40 million hectares of land. A key point of the bill is that legal reserves can be reduced from 80 per cent to 50 per cent of the total area of private properties in the Amazon rainforest. Forests protected within Areas of Permanent Preservation may be cut by half. Riparian vegetation currently protected within a 30m width from waterways could be slashed to only 5m. The Brazilian Congress will vote on the amendment, and then it's up to President Lula to veto, although this is unlikely during the run-up to October elections.

Evidence: A letter co-written by six Brazilian scientists in Science in July states that if the new rules become law it "will reduce mandatory restoration of native vegetation illegally cleared since 1965" and highlight that this will substantially increase CO2 emissions and put around 100,000 species at risk of extinction. Meanwhile a recent paper in Science reported that deforestation in the Amazon has declined by 47.5 per cent over the past year, according to a satellite survey – one of the biggest declines in 20 years.

Canada – woodland caribou

Description:Boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are a biodiversity indicator for the entire boreal forest, which is essential to help sequester carbon, regulate climate and for biodiversity. Currently at least half of the caribou's range has been impacted by human activities that fragment their forest habitat, and this makes them easy prey for wolves and bears. They are already a "threatened" species under federal law. By far the single biggest danger to boreal woodland caribou is unregulated and uncoordinated oil, gas and tar sand development in western Canada, including the Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and North-West territories. Only a fraction of caribou critical habitat is currently fully protected from industrial activity, but scientists recommend that caribou need large, healthy, intact and interconnected forests to survive. Federal government support is needed to build on an agreement with the Canadian forest industry to protect an area the size of Germany. Restrictions should also be put on oil and gas development including extraction of tar sands in areas critical to the species.

Evidence: A report last year from Environment Canada, drawing on the work of over 30 independent caribou scientists, outlined the importance of protecting large tracts of boreal forest critical for the survival of woodland caribou – approximately six million hectares.

Mexico – vaquita bycatch

Action: Implement a fishing moratorium on all entangling nets in the range of the vaquita

Vaquitas in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Photograph: Chris Johnson/vaquita.tv

Description: The recent likely extinction of the baiji or Chinese river dolphin , makes the vaquita (Phocoena sinus) – the Gulf of California porpoise – the most endangered cetacean. There are estimated to be 250 vaquitas in the world, a 56% decline from the last estimate in 1997. Since 2007, Mexico has been implementing a ban on the use of gilnets by fishermen in a refuge area for the species and has a voluntary programme of fishing permit buyouts. However, this does not go far enough to prevent extinction, say scientists. As vaquita populations approach a critically low number, scientists maintain that accidental "bycatch" of vaquita in fishing nets must be reduced to zero and that removal of all gillnets from the animal's entire range is the only way to accomplish zero mortality. Local fishing communities must be compensated and trained in alternative livelihoods or alternative fishing equipment.

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